


Her Dragon, His Moon (Book Three)

by YunalescaSakura



Series: Her Dragon, His Moon [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Cute, F/M, Fantasy, Minor Swearing, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 08:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18601114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunalescaSakura/pseuds/YunalescaSakura
Summary: Sirius Black, a man who was convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, has escaped from Azkaban. Rumor says that he's going after one person, Harry Potter. Why? Many believe it's to finished what the Dark Lord was unable to do thirteen years ago. But, not everything is as it seems.





	1. Prologue

_Dear Sambiance,_

_How've you been? Egypt is exactly as I thought it would be, hot and full of sand though it was fun either way. Mom wouldn't let Ginny go into a few of the tombs because of a few of the curses though thanks to Bill we were fine. Oh! Fred, George, and I did end up trying to lock Percy in one of the tombs though thanks to mom and Bill we weren't able to. Anyway, almost the moment we got back, Dad was told that Harry had accidentally used his magic and blew his aunt up like a balloon, though Fudge apparently let him off with a warning. He was also told that a murderer named, Sirius Black, who was convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, has escaped from Azkaban. Hopefully, that doesn't interfere with anything this year._

_I mean, after the Sorcerer's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets, I could go for a normal year. Then again, this is Hogwarts I'm talking about and nothing's ever normal there, is it? Well, see you on the train in a few weeks._

_[Cynthia](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335940453446704781/) _

 


	2. Chapter One

“I'm warning you, Hermione. Keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers, or I'll turn it into a tea cozy.”

“It's a cat, Ronald. What do you expect? It's in his nature.”

“A cat? Is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair, if you ask me.”

“That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush.”

_‘We've only been here for fifteen minutes,’_ I thought, watching the two. To catch you up. Ron is insulting Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks because he had gone after Scabbers. When the day started we went to get out school supplies before we came to the Leaky Cauldron since Harry was here and these two have been going at each other since we arrived. To be honest it's funny that they physically changed, but still acted the same way that they did before.

“Okay that's enough you two,” I said, finally getting fed up with them and also because I saw Harry standing at the top of the stairs with a smile on his face. “Enjoy the show, Harry?”

“Yeah, very entertaining,” he replied, coming down the stairs Ron and Hermione's attention snapped over to him. Once the hellos were exchanged we sat at one of the tables before Ron showed Harry the Daily Prophet that had us on the front cover.

“Egypt. What's it like?”

“Brilliant. Loads of old stuff like mummies, tombs, even Scabbers enjoyed himself.”

“You know the Egyptians used to worship cats,” Hermione interjected.

“Yeah, along with the dung beetle,” Ron retorted, causing Harry and I to chuckle as she glared at him.

“Not flashing that clipping again, are you, Ron?” Fred asked.

“I haven't shown anyone.”

“No, not a soul,” George replied, Fred, grabbing the paper as he passed.

“Not unless you count Tom, the day maid, the night maid, the cook,” I started listing, which Fred took over.

“The bloke who fixed the toilet and that wizard from Belgium,” he said, causing Ron to glare at the three of us. Over the summer Fred, George and I became as thick as thieves since Percy became head boy and that's mainly because he became more of an ass towards us, but I guess that's just Percy.

September first came and we had to rush to get to the train, making it so many of us almost forgot a few things though thanks to mum we didn't. I quickly found Sambiance in an empty compartment.

“Is it me or is your hair longer, Cyn?” she asked, gently grabbing my ponytail that was lower back when it was down.

“It's not you,” I replied, taking my hair from her hand.

“Did Ron get a new wand?”

“Yep, a fourteen inch, willow wood with unicorn hair as its core. So no more furry goblets or him puking up slugs,” I said, causing her to laugh as well as make a slightly grossed out face. Sambiance went to say something else only to be cut off by the click of the compartment door opening as well as a familiar voice.

“Well, look what we have here.” If the voice didn't tell me who it was the glare that was on Sambiance's face definitely told me. Sighing I turned to see none other than Draco Malfoy with Pansy Parkinson, who had a not so flattering haircut though I had to admit Malfoy looked different. Unlike the previous years, he no longer had had his hair slicked back and he was at least seven inches taller than he was last year.

“Do we have to sit with a Mudblood?” Parkinson asked, glaring at Sambiance. Sambiance went to charge at her only to stop when I put my arm out in front of her.

“You can always find somewhere else to sit,” I told her with a glare, “But if you do sit here then keep that trap you call a mouth shut,” I added, which caused an almost unnoticeable flash of fear on Malfoy's face. Unfortunately, they did sit with us, which made it so Sambiance put her nose in a book.

“It's strange seeing you without Crabbe and Goyle.”

“They're sitting with Blaise and Xzavier.”

“When did they become friends with Xzavier?” I asked, which caused him to shrug. I notice Sambiance giving me a strange look.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said, putting her nose back in her book, causing me to raise an eyebrow. When night fell so did the rain though I wasn't really paying attention to what was going since I was thinking about what dad had said to Harry back at the Leaky Cauldron. Dad had said that Sirius Black was looking for Harry to kill him, but what's confusing me is that dad told him not to go looking for Black. Why would Harry go looking for someone who wanted to murder him? My thoughts were cut off when I jerked forward a little because of the train stopping.

“Why are we stopping? We can't be there yet,” Parkinson said.

“That's because we're not,” I said, standing before I opened the compartment door. I wasn't the only one doing so since almost every compartment had someone looking out in the hall. I was instantly tossed back into my seat, causing the compartment door to latch again.

“What's going on?” Malfoy asked.

“You expect me to know,” I replied just before the lights went out and for Parkinson to latch onto Malfoy's arm. “Why?” The train jerked again and then the temperature dropped, making ice form on the windows, and for the four of us to start seeing our breath. Sambiance was rubbing her arms trying to keep warm as Parkinson was trying to see out of the window. The train jerked more violently than it had before, then a cloaked figure slowly floated its way into view. With one motion from it, the compartment door opened, glistening, gray, boney like fingers wrapped around the door, pushing it up to reveal a dementor. It's cloaked head looked at each of us, stopping on me for a few minutes, causing me to hold my breath before it left, closing the door in the process.

“What was that?” Sambiance asked, her voice shaking a little.

“A dementor,” Malfoy answered, plainly.

“Which is?”

“A guard at Azkaban and before you ask Azkaban is a prison,” I answered her.

“Okay. So why is it here?”

“There's only one reason it would be here,” Malfoy said, glaring at her, which caused me to glare back at him.

“Sirius Black.”

 


	3. Chapter Two

When we arrived at the school things started like they did last year by placing the first years into their houses. The school's chore gave a short performance that was actually pretty good before Dumbledore stepped up to the small podium, which was definitely new.

“Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now, I'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, professor,” he said before he motioned to a man that stood. Lupin was a tall man with light brown hair that was flecked with grey and by the looks of it, green eyes.

“Is it just me or does Snape not look too pleased about that,” [I](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335940453449632924/) asked Sambiance when I noticed Snape's frown was deeper than usual as he clapped though hesitantly.

“He's definitely not happy about it, but when is he ever happy,” she replied, causing me to chuckled a little.

“True.”

“Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid,” Dumbledore said before motioning to said person. McGonagall nudged Hagrid with her elbow to get him to stand, which he did, knocking over a few things in the process since he pushed the table too.

“Something tells me that class is going to be very interesting,” I said, laughing a little. Sambiance nodded in agreement.

“Finally, on a more disquieting note at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban,” some students began to whisper among themselves. “until such a time as Sirius Black is captured. The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day to day activities a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They'll not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

With that Dumbledore let us enjoy our feast though after finding out that the dementors were going to be here made me lose a bit of my apatite. Once we got to the common room, we chose our bed, which with many they took the ones that they had the previous years. Sambiance and I ended up having ours by the windows though it really didn't bother us since we would normally watch the shadows that went by anyway.

“Seems you were right about why the dementors are here,” Sambiance said crawling into her bed.

“Unfortunately.” Morning came and classes began, though before the classes even started Malfoy and his little group was making fun of Harry, do to the fact that he fainted on the train, thanks to a dementor. In potions, it was clear that Snape wasn't too thrilled and like normal the Gryffindors were the ones to get the backlash. Next was divination, which Sambiance was excited for. I could live without knowing the future. Once we got into the room that the class was meant to be in thanks to a magical trapdoor, we paired up.

Harry with Ron and myself with Sambiance. I was surprised when I didn't see Hermione anywhere in the class when the teacher walked in. Sybill Trelawney is a woman of average height with brown frizzy hair and dark green eyes.

“Welcome, my children,” she said as she came into the room. “In this room, you shall explore the noble are of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight,” she said before she accidentally walked into the small table that she had in front of her, causing some of us to chuckle. “Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future. This term, we'll focus on Tasseomancy, which is the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you,” she added, causing us to do so. “What do you see? The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read. But first, you must broaden your minds,” she places her hands on Seamus's head, “First, you must look beyond,” she continued, raising her voice on the last word as she turned and pointed out the window to prove her point, also causing most of the students to follow were she pointed. Sambiance and I shared an amused look before I noticed Hermione sitting with the boys.

_‘When did she get here?’_

“You, boy,” Trelawney said, point to Neville. “Is your grandmother quite well?

“I think so.”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Give me the cup,” which Dean did. “Oh. um. Pity,” she added as she continued around the room. Eventually, Trelawney stopped at Ron, making a sound of surprise and scaring most of us in the room.

“Your aura is pulsing, dear. Are you in the beyond? I think you are?”

“Sure,” Ron said, not sounding so sure himself.

“Look at the cup. Tell me what you see.”

“Yeah. Um. Harry's got sort of a wonky cross,” Ron started, as I noticed Harry and Hermione share an amused look. “That's trials and suffering. And that there could be the sun and that happiness. So...you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it.”

“Give me the cup,” Trelawney ask though the moment she looked into it, she dropped it back on the table, looking absolutely terrified. “Oh, my dear boy. You have to Grim.”

_‘That doesn't sound good,’_ I thought as I started looking through the book.

“The grin? What's the grin?” Seamus asked as I found it.

“Not the grin, you idiot. The Grim,” I said before I started reading. “Taking the form of a giant spectral dog. It's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of...death.”

_‘Well, that's definitely not good.’_ It wasn't long after that the class ended and we were making our way down to Hagrid's hut.

“You don't think that Grim thing's got anything to do with Sirius Black, do you?”

“Oh, honestly, Ron. If you ask me, Divination's a woolly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject,” Hermione stated.

“Ancient Runes? Exactly how many classes are you taking this term?” Ron asked her.

“A fair few.”

“Hang on. That's not possible” I said, “Ancient Runes is at the same time as Divination.”

“You have to be in two classes at once,” Ron added.

“Don't be silly you two. How could anyone be in two classes at once?” she said, causing Ron and I to look at each other. I shook my head as Hermione started mimicking Professor Trelawney.

“That's it. Come on, now. Come closer. Less talking, if you don't mind,” Hagrid was heard saying as we got closer. “I got a real treat for you today. A great lesson. So follow me.” And that's what we did. We followed Hagrid a little way into the woods, coming to a small clearing that had a low rock wall around it.

“You've been in here before, right?” Sambiance asked me once we got over the low rock wall.

“Yes, but it's not as terrifying during the day.”

“Right, you lot. Less chattering. Form a group over there,” Hagrid said, motioning to one of the big trees that had a few large rocks around it. “And open your books to page 49.”

“Exactly how do we do that?” Malfoy asked, with an attitude of course.

“Try stroking the spine,” I told him with the same amount of an attitude that he had given, which caused Hagrid to nod before he went back to what he was going to do.

“How'd you know that?” Sambi asked.

“When you almost lose your hand to it once, you tend to find a way not to have that close call again,” I told her as we walked by Neville, who unfortunately was getting attacked by the book.

“I think they're funny,” Hermione said, though I wasn't sure what she was talking about.

“Oh, yeah. Terribly funny,” Malfoy said, catching everyone's attention. “Really witty. God, this place has gone to the dogs. Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes.”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” Harry said, taking a few steps towards said person.

“Oooooh,” came from Malfoy as well as some of the other Slytherins.

_‘Here we go,’_ I thought as Malfoy stepped forward, so he was standing in front of Harry. Malfoy's stood there with his normal smug look until he looked over his shoulder, causing fear to appear.

“Dementor! Dementor!” he yelled pointing, causing us all, myself and Sambiance included, to turn around only to see nothing. We all looked back at Malfoy and his group when their laughter filled the air. They pulled up the hood of their cloaks and started making ghost sounds. Hermione pulled Harry back up front with her and Ron, most likely making a face at the laughing Slytherins. I looked at Sambiance, who had a look that crossed with fear and hate before I looked back at Malfoy glaring.

“Would you just grow up, Draco. You out of everybody should know that a dementor is nothing to joke about,” I said, before I walked up to the front with Sambiance at my heels, feeling eyes following me. It took me a minute to realize exactly what I said.

“Sambi did I just–”

“Yep,” was all she said, and I knew that she was smirking. “You like him.” I sent her a glare.

“Do not.”

“Right,” she said, still smirking, which caused me to elbow her. Someone clearing their throat, caused us all to look at Hagrid, who had a grayish-white creature that had a body, hind legs, and tail of a horse, but the front legs, wings, and head that seemed to be giant eagles, with a cruel steel colored beak. His heels on its front legs were half a foot long and extremely deadly looking.

“Isn't he beautiful?” Hagrid said, throwing the creature a stuffed ferret, by the looks of it, that was hanging around his neck. “Say hello to Buckbeak.”

“Wow,” Sambiance and I said together. I had to admit he was a very beautiful creature.

“Hagrid, exactly what is that?”

“That, Ron, is a Hippogriff. The first thing you wanna know is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a Hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do,” Hagrid said with a very serious face before his usual smile appeared again. “Now, who'd like to come and say hello?” he asked, looking back at Buckbeak.

_‘Really Hagrid,’_ I thought as I heard shuffling behind me, causing me to look only to see everyone besides myself and Harry had moved back. When Hagrid turned back around he looked at the two of us, most likely trying to see who would speak first. I looked at Harry only to see that he was nervous, which caused me to look back at Hagrid

“I'll do it.” I heard those behind me start to mummer to each other.

“Well done, Cynthia. Well done,” Hagrid said, motioning me to move forward as he moved so he was standing in between Buckbeak and I. “Now...you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite. So...step up. Give him a nice bow. Then you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If not...Well, we'll get to that later.”

_‘Again. Really Hagrid,’_ I thought before turning my attention to Buckbeak, who was already looking at me. Buckbeak took a few steps towards me.

“Make your bow. Nice and low,” Hagrid instructed me, which I did, my eyes not leaving his orange ones. He tilted his head slightly, then nodded it before taking another step forward and lowering his head, bowing back to me.

“Well done, Cynthia. Well done,” Hagrid said, causing me to stand from my bow. “Here, you big brute, you,” he added, throwing Buckbeak a ferret, which he happily ate. “Right. You can go and pat him now. Go on. Don't be shy,” he told me, causing me to smile a little. I could hear those behind me murmuring again as I slowly made my way over to the beautiful creature. Buckbeak watches my every move and without breaking eye contact with him I slowly raised my hand. His wings splayed out a bit, causing me to stop, keeping my hand outstretched towards him.

“Good. Now let him come to you.” Buckbeak slowly inched his way towards me before stopping with his beak inches away from my hand. He started at me for a minute before pressing his beak to the tips of my fingers. I smiled as I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of his beak, up to where his feathers met, causing him to lazily close his eyes.

“Well done! Well done, Cynthia, well done!” Hagrid said as he and the class applauded. I couldn't help but let a huge smile stretch across my face as I continued to pet Buckbeak.

“I think he may let you ride him now,” Hagrid said, causing me to snap my attention to him.

“Really!?” Though instead of answering me he picked me up, under my arms, making me squeak as well as feel like a rag doll and put me on Buckbeak's back, just behind the wing joint, causing the said creature to squawk.

“Don't pull out any of his feathers, because he won't thank you for that,” Hagrid told me before he hit Buckbeak's rear, causing him to rear up and for me to wrap my arms around his neck as he started to run. I barely had a grip when Buckbeak took off, though whatever fear I had completely disappeared when he broke through the treetops. I marveled at the view in front of me. The green landscape stretched out and intertwined with the glittering Black Lake, even Hogwarts itself looked more enchanting with the light glistening off the many windows and making the gray stones look warmer. Buckbeak made a few noises as he glided down to the surface of the lake, allowing his talons skim the surface. Looking at my reflection in the water and couldn't help but smile. Seeing myself flying on Buckbeak was something I couldn't believe was happening.

A laugh slipped through my lips as I raised my arms out like wings, allowing the wind to blow my robes out, along with my braid. I was hollering and whooping with laughter at least until Buckbeak flapped his wings, causing me to put my hands back to his neck. Buckbeak started making his way back to where Hagrid and the other were, most likely hearing something I couldn't. When he landed I could hear many of the others congratulating me along with some applauding before Hagrid's voice boomed over them.

“Well done, Cynthia, and well done, Buckbeak,” he said as Buckbeak made his way over to Hagrid. “Well done, well done,” he told me as he lifted me off of Buckbeak. “How's me doing on my first day?”

“Absolutely brilliant, Professor,” I told him, which caused him to smile. “One question though.”

“Oh?”

“Can I go again?” I asked, a smile still clearly noticeable on my face, causing him to laugh.

“Get back over there,” he said, motioning towards the others.

 


	4. Chapter Three

Hagrid had many others do what I did, even Harry though when Buckbeak landed you could tell he did not like flying on him though it was right after Harry that Malfoy did something very stupid. Malfoy ended up insulting Buckbeak, which ultimately got him a talon to his arm. That alone worries me. If I've learned anything from my run-ins with Lucius, he'll either try to get Hagrid fired or get Buckbeak killed, though I wouldn't put it past him to try both. It's been a few days since then now and Malfoy has been really playing up his injury, which is really starting to get annoying. In those few days, Sambiance hasn't let me forget that I squeaked when Hagrid picked me up or my little slip up with Malfoy's name. She's been insisting that I like him, which I don't...I think. Sambiance and I had just walked into the common room to hear him going on and on about it.

“He's at it again,” Sambiance said with a slight glare.

“Should I say something?”

“Better you than me.”

“True,” I said before I turned my attention to the small group, which had Malfoy at the center. “When did the Slytherin Prince, Draco Malfoy become such a drama queen?” I added, causing said person, along with those around him to look in my direction.

“Is the Slytherin Princess jealous because she's not getting her attention?” he teased as he made his way over to me.

_‘Slytherin Princess? When did I get that title? And did he just tease me again!?’_ I thought, looking up at him, also noticing Parkinson glaring at me. Ever since I slipped up with Malfoy's name he's been teasing and surprisingly talking to me more. Not sure if I should be scared about that or not. Along with that, Pug face...Oops...I mean Parkinson, has been glaring at me more often, which doesn't surprise me since she's made it painfully obvious that she likes Malfoy. I smirked up at him.

“Unlike you, Prince, I don't go looking for attention,” I said, motioning to his arm, “nor do I want it. And when it comes to my attention, I have you and everyone else to thank for it. Now, if you would excuse us, we have a few important things to do. So, keep it down, would you,” I added before Sambiance and I walked to a table on the farthest side of the room.

“Slytherin Princess?” Sambiance asked as we sat.

“I don't know,” I said, looking at her, only to see that she was smirking. “And before you start saying I was flirting, that was not my intention.”

“Intentionally or not, you were flirting,” she retorted, causing me to glare.

“Your teasing is only going to get worse until I admit it, isn't it?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I sighed.

“...Wonderful. Now come on, Potions,” I said, a small smile appearing as she groaned.

“Why Potions?” she whined.

“Because one, you seriously suck at it,” I replied, earning a glare as well as a hey, “And two if you get it done now you won't have to do it later.”

“...Fine.” After a few hours of hearing her complain since we actually had more homework in Potions than any other class, we decided to head towards that great hall.

“I can't believe Snape gave us so much, I mean come on, four pages,” she complained as we walked.

“Four pages is only a lot for you, though even I have to admit, he has been giving more than he used to.”

“Do you think it has something to do with Professor Lupin?”

“Maybe. It could be because of our year too,” I answered before I saw something in the corner of my eye. Looking, I saw a small, white, origami bird, flapping its little wings.

“Whole new meaning of passing notes,” Sambiance said, telling me she finally noticed it.

“Yep,” I said, holding my hand out for it to land on, which it did. I unfolded the bird, only to revile somewhat neat handwriting.

 

I think it's time for us

to be on a first name basis, don't you?

D.M.

 

“Well, well, a note from your prince,” Sambiance said as she looked over my shoulder with a smirk on her face.

“Will you shut up,” I told her, earning a no in response as I folded the paper back up and slipped it into a pocket on my bag. When we got to the great hall Sambiance and I split, her going to find a Ravenclaw named, Luna Lovegood, while I went and found the golden trio, walking by an over exaggerating Malfoy...er...I mean Draco...that's gonna take a little to get used to, as I did.

“He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?” Ron said as I sat down next to him.

“That's nothing compared to how he is in the common room.”

“I can imagine. At least Hagrid didn't get fired,” Harry said, causing me to nod.

“Yeah, but I hear Draco's father's furious,” Hermione interjected. “We haven't heard the end of this.”

“Sadly,” I added before Seamus's voice rang out.

“He's been sighted! He's been sighted!”

“Who?” Ron asked.

“Sirius Black!” The moment the name left Seamus's mouth many students, including myself, crowded around, looking at the Daily Prophet that was now laying in the middle of the table.

“Dufftown? That's not far from here,” Hermione informed.

“You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?” Neville asked, looking as scared as he sounded.

“With dementors at every entrance?” someone asked.

“Dementors? He's slipped past them once. Who's to say he won't do it again?” Seamus retorted.

_‘Oh boy.’_ Defense Against the Dark Arts class was something I could say that I was honestly excited for. So far Lupin hasn't given any of us a reason to not like the class and since there haven't been any problems like last year. Surprisingly, I was walking to class with Draco and his normal group though we stopped when we saw Peeves zoom by, cursing.

“Well now, that seemed familiar,” Draco said, smirking.

“Shh, no one needs to know about that,” I told him, unable to keep a smirk off my face before I started walking again. When we got to the room, I was a little surprised to see all the desks were gone and there at the back of the room, sitting right in front of Professor Lupin's desk was a wardrobe. The wardrobe wobbled a bit as the rest of the class poured into the room. Occasionally a thud would come from it as if something ran into the door or sides of it.

“Know what it is?” Sambiance's voice came from behind me, causing me to jump, and spin around only to see said person smirking.

“How can you be so quiet?” I asked her, placing a hand over my heart that was now threatening to jump out of my chest. “And to answer your question, no I don't.” When Professor Lupin came out of his office I noticed that Hermione still wasn't here.

_‘Again..?’_

“Intriguing, isn't it?” Lupin asked us, once he had settled his things. “Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?”

“That's a boggart, that is,” Dean answered.

“Very good, Mr. Thomas. Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?”

“No one knows,” Hermione's voice came, causing me to snap my head in her direction as I heard Ron asked when she got there. “Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so–”

“So terrifying, yes, yes, yes,” Lupin finished for her as he reached the front of the class. “Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now. Without wands, please. After me. Riddikulus!” he added, getting a chore of the word from us. “Very good. A little louder and very clear. Listen Riddikulus!” Once again he got a chore, just a little louder than what it was before.

“This class is ridiculous,” I heard Draco say, causing me to look at him.

“Your attitude is ridiculous,” I told him, with a slight smirk on my face before I turned my attention back to Lupin, noticing the corner of Sambiance mouth twitch and feeling multiple sets of eyes on me.

“Very good. So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing. Let me explain. Neville, would you join me, please?” My eyes widened a bit.

_‘Oh I pray for Neville's sake that this goes better than last year,’_ I thought, remembering how after the Pixies were rounded up we found Neville hanging on a chandelier. Neville looked around nervously before he slowly made his way up to the front.

“Neville, what frightens you most of all?” Neville mumbled something. “Sorry?”

“Professor Snape,” Neville said, this time clear enough for us all to hear. Almost everyone laughed. I really couldn't really blame Neville really. Snape has his moments when he's terrifying, even to his own house.

“Professor Snape. Yes, frightens all,” Lupin said, looking as if he was remembering something. “And I believe you live with your grandmother.”

“Yes, but I don't want that boggart to turn into her, either,” Neville stated, looking a little more than worried, which caused the class to laugh again.

“No...” Lupin said, looking back at the wardrobe for a second. “...it won't. I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind.” Neville started to say what she wore out loud only to be stopped by Lupin. “We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe...here's what I want you to do.” Lupin walked up to Neville and whispered something in his ear, which by the surprised look that Neville had told me that whatever was going to happen was going interesting.

“Can you do that?” Lupin asked him, which he nodded to. “Good. Wand at the ready. One, two, three.” With a wave of his wand the wardrobe unlocked and out came Professor Snape in his terrifying glory.

“Riddikulus!” And with that Snape's usual black robes turned into a long green dress, with a fox fur scarf, a tall hat that had a stuffed vulture on top, and to complete the outfit was a big red handbag. There wasn't one person who wasn't laughing at the sight.

“Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible! Okay to the back, Neville. Everyone, form a line.” Doing as Lupin said we formed a line with Ron at the front as well as getting shoved forwards, thanks to Crabbe pushing everyone else. “I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most and turn it into something funny. Next! Ron!” With that, Ron stepped forward. The boggart turned its attention to him and with a crack, it shifted into a huge black widow. I heard Ron whimper as I felt someone grab onto my sleeve.

_‘Of course, it would be a spider. Not that I blame him,’_ I thought, looking to see who had grabbed my sleeve to see it was Sambiance before turning my attention back to Ron and his fear.

“Riddikulus!” Red roller blades appeared on its eight legs, causing it to struggle to stay standing and ultimately failing. Laughter rolled through the room like thunder. Next up was Parvati, which was a snake about half the size of the snakeskin that was in the chamber last year. Using the spell she turned the snake into a jack in the box with a somewhat creepy looking clown that swayed back and for. Next, Harry. At first, I wondered if it would be Voldemort that would appear for him, which by the look that Lupin had I knew he thought the same thing I did.

The boggart shifted, though not into what I thought it would. Instead of Voldemort, it was a dementor. Not even seconds later Lupin was standing in front of Harry. With another crack, the boggart shift to a full moon with gray clouds slowly parting.

_‘A full moon?’_

“Riddikulus!” The moon turned into a pale, yellow balloon that whipped around the room as it lost air. With a wave of his wand, Lupin opened the wardrobe, allowing the boggart to slip back inside before he closed it again.

“Right. Well, sorry about that. That's enough for today. If you all would collect your books from the back of the class. That's the end of the lesson,” Lupin said, causing many of the students to complain. “Sorry! Sorry, you can have too much of a good thing.”

_‘Why would he fear a full moon?’_ I thought as I grabbed my bag. _‘Wait. Could he be...?’_

 


	5. Chapter Four

“Hurry up, Sambi!” [I](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335940453451981747/) called as we ran out of the common room, papers in hand.

“I'm going, I'm going,” she sassed. A month has passed since that class and to be honest I still have my suspicions about Lupin, but that's not really what I've been excited about. Today we were turning in out permission slips to go to Hogsmeade.

“Remember, these visits to Hogsmeade village are a privilege,” we heard McGonagall say as we turned the corner to the courtyard. “Should your behavior reflect poorly on the school that privilege shall not be extended again,” She added. I wasn't really listening to her when she was talking with Harry, but from the face, he, Hermione, and Ron had I could tell that he wasn't able to go.

“I feel bad for Harry,” Hermione said to Ron and I as we followed the group, who were following Filch.

“Me too, but what can you do.” Hermione and Ron left Sambiance and I to go to Zonko's Joke Shop. Looking around, my eyes stopped on Honeydukes.

“Am I the only one who has a sweet tooth?”

“No, but I know something you would like.” This caused me to look at her only to see her smirking. Tilting my head to the right with a confused look on my face, caused Sambiance to motion for me to look to my right. When I did I saw that she was motioning to Draco. Looking away from him I felt my cheeks heat up, causing her to laugh.

“Well, well, looks like our Slytherin Princess is blushing,” she teased a smirk evident on her face.

“Shut up.” With that, I turned, making my way to Honeydukes, with her laughing as she followed. Once we got our treats, we wandered the streets, trying not to run into anyone which unfortunately didn't work since I did, evidently knocking the person to the ground.

“I'm sorry,” I said to the person.

“It's alright,” a male voice replied as he stood. He had short, dark hair and from that light gray eyes. “Must be your first time.”

“Yes. Are you sure you're alright, um...”

“Cedric. Cedric Diggory, and yes I'm sure.”

“Diggory? Are you related to Amos by any chance?” He looked a little surprised.

“Yes. He's my father, but how do you know him?”

“Oh, I know of him, thanks to Dad. Sorry, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Cynthia Callard. I live with Arthur Weasley,” I said, holding my hand out to him, which he shook with a look of understatement on his face. “And this is Sambiance Schuessler.” She nodded to him, which he did in return. Cedric offered to show us around and before we knew it was time to head back to the castle. The next few days went by rather quickly, though in those days we found of that Hagrid has to go to a hearing with Buckbeak's. Potions was worse than normal too since what happened with the boggart is known all around the school. Unfortunately, Care of Magical Creatures became boring since Hagrid didn't have the motivation to really teach now.

_‘What a day,’_ I thought as I plopped down next to Draco. Today was like any other day with the classes, but what really tired me out was the fact that I had found Scabbers, not once, but twice and had to chase Ron down to return him. Not even two minutes later a Head Boy came in and told us all to go to the great hall, causing me to inwardly groan as I got up with the help of Xzavier. I easily found Sambiance when we got into the great hall that was full of very confused students from each house.

“The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,” Dumbledore said, gaining all of our attention as some of the teachers closed all the doors. “I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,” he added to Percy, who looked as proud as a peacock, which caused me to roll my eyes. Dumbledore left after he made the tables fold up and lean against the walls as well as many blue sleeping bags appear on the floor.

The room started filling with questions as they went to find a place. I somehow found myself in between Sambiance, who looked like a kid in Honeydukes and Draco. Apparently, Sirius Black found his way into the castle and based on the actions that were taken they still think he's in the castle.

“Can today just end?” I asked no one in particular as I started undoing my braid. Draco looked at me a little confused. “What?”

“You don't normally complain.”

_‘Is he concerned?’_ I thought before I spoke, “Well, besides the normal, I had to track Ron down a few times today,” I added, laying down.

“What? He lose something?” he asked, looking down at me. I nodded.

“Actually, yes. His rat to be exact.”

“Lights are going out now!” Percy shouted. “I want everyone in their sleeping bag and no more talking!” I groaned.

“Okay, we get it. You can shut up now, Percy,” I said, causing most of the people in the room to start chuckling. Draco smirked.

“We second that,” Fred and George said from the other end of the room, causing more to join in the chores of chuckles and giggles. Many of us didn't fall asleep till about three in the morning, myself included, though when morning came I was awoken by giggling. Choosing to ignore it, I cuddled closer to the warmth as it tightened its grip on me.

_‘So warm. Wait. What?’_ I thought before I opened my eyes, blinking because of the brightness before a chest came into view. 'Please don't be...' A groan caused me to look up only to see a half-awake Draco looking down at me. Both our eyes widened and our faces turned a few shades of pink, causing the giggling that had stopped to start again.

“Um...Sorry,” I said, gently pulling myself away from him before I sat up.

“S'okay,” he slurred. Giggling caused me to look up at Sambiance to see her grinning ear to ear, making it so I glared at her. We were eventually allowed to go back to our common rooms.

“I admit it,” I said to Sambiance as we made our way back.

“Admit what?” she asked, smirking, clearly knowing what I was talking about.

“You know exactly what I'm talking about.” She laughed.

“Took you long enough. Now how long do you think it will be before the two of you are together?” I rolled my eyes.

“No idea.” The next few day's Sirius Black was all anyone would talk about, which to be honest was a little annoying, but this was a school so the rumors were expected. The Gryffindors got the portrait of Sir Cadogan watching their common room now though by the face they've been making I don't think they like him too much. Unfortunately for them, he was the only one who would take up her post for the time being and poor Harry has been finding himself being escorted to most of his classes by teachers or Percy himself. Due to the fact that they all know that Sirius Black is after Harry they've been trying to put restrictions on him, which he's not very pleased about. Sambiance and I walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts and took our seats that were in front of Harry and Hermione's empty seat.

_‘Okay, I want to know why she's been so late,’_ I thought before I heard Sambiance speak.

“You're being watch.” I looked at her to see her eyes flicker to someone behind me. Looking I see that Draco was watching me though he looked away when he saw I was looking. Ever since we woke up the way we did it's been a little awkward, but not too much thankfully. I looked back Sambiance to see her smirking.

“Shut up,” I told her with a small smile. Her teasing has gotten a bit worse since that morning, though I kind of expected it, this is Sambiance after all. Soon enough Snape came into the room and with a wave of his wand closed the shutters on the window before he pulled a white screen down.

“Turn to page 394,” he instructed. Sambiance and I looked at each other before doing what we were told.

“Excuse me, sir. Where's Professor Lupin?” Harry asked. Snape's face seemed to harden even more than it already was, his frown deepening in the process.

“That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?” he replied, making his way to the projector at the back of the class. “Suffice it to say you professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394,” he added before tapping the projector with his wand. A thud of a book hitting a desk caused me to look over at Ron only to see that he look a little startled.

_‘Must've been going to slow for Snape,’_ I thought, turning back to my book.

“Werewolves?” Ron said, sound extremely confused.

“But sir, we've just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks,” Hermione informed him, to look back at her.

“Quiet,” was all Snape said.

“When did she come in? Did you see her come in?” Ron asked Harry, who shook his head before he looked at me, causing me to do the same.

“Now, which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?” Snape asked, walk back the front of the room. Like normal Hermione's hand went up, but so did mine. When Snape turned around I saw his eyes look at Hermione before they fell on me.

“Miss. Callard.”

“An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind,” I answered, realizing something in the process. Draco let out a howl, which caused a few in the room to laugh as well as make me give him a _really_ look though I couldn't help smiling a little.

“Thank you, Mr. Malfoy,” Snape said to him before looking at me again. “Correct. Five points to Slytherin. Now, as an antidote to your ignorance, and on my desk, by Monday morning, two rolls of parchment on the werewolf, with particular emphasis on recognizing it.”

“Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow,” Harry informed as others were groaning about the work. Snape stepped forward and leaned on Harry's desk as he spoke.

“Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter. Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page 394.” Snape continued on with the lesson though I wasn't really paying attention.

_‘It seems I was right.’_

 


	6. Chapter Five

The first game of Quidditch was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It was supposed to be with Slytherin, but since Draco's arm is still injured, or so he says it was changed. Hufflepuff ended up winning the game and not because their seeker caught the snitch. The dementors ended up coming onto the grounds and went after Harry causing him to fall off his broom. Dumbledore was furious, not that I blame him, they're not supposed to come on the grounds, not to mention they attacked a student. But that's beside the point. December finally hit and with it the snow.

Many of the students went home for the holidays and those who remand ended up going to Hogsmeade, which was where I am now. Due to the fact that Sambiance wasn't really a fan of the cold, I was on my own though originally I had come with Ron and Hermione, who went to go see the Shrieking Shack. Coming out of Zonko's Joke Shop I saw a notice pinned to the wall.

 

– BY ORDER OF –

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

 

_Customers are reminded that until further notice,_

_dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade_

_every night after sundown. This measure has been put_

_in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will_

_be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is there-_

_fore advisable that you complete your shopping well_

_before nightfall._

_Merry Christmas!_

 

_‘Cheerful though must be the effect of what happened at the school,’_ I thought before I noticed footprints being made without the person. 'Really Harry.' Deciding to follow him, I saw that he was following someone else or Draco to be exact, which by the looks of it was heading to the Shrieking Shack with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him.

“How long do you plan on following them, Harry?” I whispered, causing him to quietly gasp.

“How long have you been following me?”

“Since you walked by Zonko's Joke Shop, which by the way walking around in the snow while using you invisibility cloak is probably not the best idea. Now answer the question.”

“Honestly not sure,” he said as we got to the hill that looked over the Shrieking Shack.

“Of course,” I said, hiding behind a tree when I noticed Goyle look back.

“Well, well. Look who's here,” Draco said, causing me to peer around the tree only to see that he was addressing Ron and Hermione as the three of them walked towards said two. “You two shopping for your new dream home? Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasel-Bee? Don't your family sleep in a one room?”

_‘He did not,’_ I thought, glaring at the back of his head. My eyes fell to the snow before a smirk appeared.

“Let's have a little fun, Shall we?” I said to Harry as I started to make a snowball.

“Shut your mouth, Malfoy.”

“Oh, not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasel-Bee how to respect his superiors,” Draco said, looking all smug.

“Ladies first,” Harry said as Hermione laughed a humorless laugh.

“Hope you don't mean yourself,” she said as she stepped in front of Ron.

“How dare you talk to me! You filthy little Mudblood.” And with that, I threw the snowball and slipping behind the tree before looking to see it hit the side of Draco's neck. The five of them looked over to where we were, seeing nothing even though Harry was standing right in the open.

“Who's there?” Not even a second after that Harry started throwing a few snowballs before I saw him start making his way down to them.

“Don't just stand there! Do something!” Draco demanded from his to companions.

“What?” Crabbe asked him. Then Goyle's hat folded down over his eyes before Crabbe got pantsed, which he instantly tried to pull up though he was sent face first into the snow. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop me from laughing. Next Goyle's scarf was held up before he started spinning around as Draco tripped over Crabbe, who has yet to get off the ground or pull his pants back up. Goyle's scarf was let go off, causing him to fall to the ground before Draco's legs were pulled up into the air.

“What's up, Malfoy? Lost your skis?” Ron called as Draco was dragged closer to the Shrieking Shack. Eventually, his legs were dropped and to be honest for how fast the three of them ran I don't think shot out of hell would even describe how fast they were. Lastly the tails on Ron's hat were lifted a few times before a piece of Hermione's hair did the same.

“Harry!” she said, causing him to come out from underneath his invisibility cloak, laughing.

“Bloody hell, Harry. That was not funny,” Ron told him.

“That's a lie and you know it, Ron,” I called, coming out from behind the tree, laughing. “That was brilliant Harry.”

“It was your idea.”

“I only threw the first snowball. The rest was you.”

_‘Boy do I have a story for her later.’_ Once the four of us calmed down we showed Harry around as he told us how he got out of the castle without being noticed.

“Those weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map,” Ron said, looking at me, causing me to shrug. Apparently, Fred and George caught Harry when he was trying to sneak out and gave him the Marauder's Map, which was a moving map of Hogwarts. To be honest, though I'm wondering who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were. He ended up using one of the seven secret passages that led to Honeydukes cellar.

“Harry isn't going to keep it. He's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall,” Hermione told Ron before she looked at Harry. “Aren't you?”

“Oh, sure. Along with his invisibility cloak,” Ron stated sarcastically. Hermione gave him a disapproving look before her attention turned to a woman, who was putting something up. A sly smirk made its way on her face.

_‘Oh boy.’_

“Oh, look who it is. Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her.”

“That's not true!” he defended, his face going a few shades darker.

“It's so true, Ronald,” I told him, causing him to glare at me as Harry and Hermione laughed. Just then McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Flitwick, and Hagrid, came around the corner, causing Harry to duck behind a sign.

“Rosmerta, my dear,” Fudge greeted. “I hope business is good.”

“It would be a lot better it the Ministry wasn't sending dementors into my pub every other night!” she shot back, raising the little hammer she was using so it was level with Fudge's nose.

“We have–We have a killer on the loose.”

“Sirius Black in Hogsmeade,” Rosmerta said, going back to what she was doing beforehand. “And what would bring him here?” Fudge whispered something in her ear, causing her face to contort to confusion before she looked at him.

“Harry Potter?” She asked, perhaps a bit too loud since both Fudge and McGonagall shushed her. In an instant, Harry was gone and following after Fudge and the others as they went inside. The three of us followed, trying to stop Harry but it was already too late. The three of us waited and eventually, Harry came back out only to rush away from us, which caused us to follow. When we found him, he was still under his cloak and there were quiet sobs. Apparently, Sirius Black was a friend of Harry's parents and not only that but his Godfather as well. He sold out Harry's parents and even killed another friend that went by the name of Peter Pettigrew, leaving nothing more than a finger.

The next few days were quiet, which was expected, other than the playful banter that normally goes on with Sambiance and I. Things couldn't be said got Harry, Ron, and Hermione since Harry was acting more like a revenge-seeking child, along with the normal argument between Hermione and Ron because of Scabbers and Crookshanks. Days turned in weeks and weeks into months, before I knew it it was already April. The school year was almost over and I was starting to get the feeling things were going to get a little crazy, starting with the worst before getting better. Unfortunately, I was right.

“Beautiful day,” Hermione said as we walked out into the clock tower courtyard, making our way down to Hagrid's since the hearing for Buckbeak was earlier today.

“Gorgeous,” Ron said before he glared at Hermione. “Unless of course, you mean ripped to pieces!”

“Ripped to pieces? What are you talking about?” Harry asked him only for Hermione to answer.

“Ronald has lost his rat.”

“I haven't lost anything! Your cat killed him!”

“Rubbish.”

“Harry. You've seen the way that bloodthirsty beast of hers is always lurking about. And Scabbers is gone.”

“Well, maybe you should learn to take better care of your pets!” Hermione snapped, clearly done with having Crookshanks being accused of something he didn't do.

“Your cat killed him!”

“Did not.”

“Did.”

“Didn't.”

_‘God they should just kiss and make up,’_ I thought before I spoke.

“That's enough children. Though I have to agree with Hermione. How many times have I had to chase you down in the past few months just to give you back your bloody rat.” Ron just glared at me as Hermione gave a slightly smug look.

“Thank you,” she said as we continued. We ended up finding Hagrid at the edge of the Black Lake, standing knee deep in the water, skipping stones.

“How'd it go, Hagrid? The hearing?” Hermione asked as Harry and I took a seat on a big rock.

“Well, first off, the committee members took turns talking about why we were there,” he answered before he skipped another rock. “Then I got up and did my piece. Said how Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff, always cleaned his feathers. And then Lucius Malfoy got up. Well, you can imagine. He said Buckbeak was a deadly and dangerous creature who would kill you as soon as it looks at you.”

_‘Sounds like something he would say.’_ I thought as Hermione spoke again.

“And then?”

“And then he asked for the worst, did old Lucius.”

“They're not sacking you,” Ron cut in.

“No, I'm not sacked.” Another rock was skipped. Hearing a sniffle come from Hagrid already told me what was decided.

“Buckbeak's been sentenced to death!” Hagrid's sniffles turned into full-blown sobs as he threw the last rock that he was holding into the water. The four of us glanced at each other, sadness on our faces before we looked back at the sobbing half-giant.

_‘I hate that I called it.’_

 


	7. Chapter Six

“I can't believe he did that,” Sambiance said as we walked to Divination.

“I can, this is Draco after all.” In the last Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Draco and the rest of the Slytherin team ended up dressing as dementors to make it so Harry lost the game. It didn't quite pan out the way that they wanted since Harry used a Patronus charm and ended up scaring the entire team, not to mention McGonagall gave them all a detention for it too. Harry did end up winning that game, which meant Gryffindor was going against Slytherin in the final.

“True, true. And yet, you still have a thing for him.”

“Shut up!” When we got into Divination, I was a little surprised that on each table was a crystal ball. “I thought we weren't using those until next term.” Sambiance's shrugged before we sat at the table next to the golden trio.

“Anything would be better that palmistry,” she said, causing me to laugh.

“Agreed.” When Professor Trelawney came in the lesson started though to be honest, I was falling asleep as the lesson went on.

“Broaden your minds. You must look beyond. The art of crystal gazing is in the clearing of the Inner Eye. Only then can you see. Try again,” Trelawney said to someone when I noticed that Ron, had actually fallen asleep. “Now, what do we have here?” she added, going over to the golden trio, causing Harry to sit up straight, waking Ron in the process.

“Do you mind me trying?” Hermione asked her, which Trelawney seemed ecstatic that she wanted to. “The Grim, possibly.” Trelawney looked at her with a bit of a sad expression.

“My dear, from the first moment you stepped foot in my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit,” she said, taking one of Hermione's hands into hers. “...for the noble art of Divination. No, you see, there. You may be young in years, but your heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave.” Not even seconds after the words left Trelawney's lips, Hermione pulled her hand from the woman's grasp, grabbed her bag, and pushing the crystal ball of its stand, making it roll to the floor before she got up and left, the crystal ball following her as she did.

“Have I said something?” Trelawney asked, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Way to attract attention,” Sambiance said, causing me to look at her.

“Oh like you wouldn't have done the same thing.”

“Nope. I agree with Professor Trelawney,” she replied, causing me to roll my eyes.

 _‘At least she's honest.’_ Class ended fairly fast after that.

“She's gone mental, Hermione has,” Ron said as the four of us walked down the spiral staircase. “I mean, not that she wasn't always mental, but now it's out in the open for everyone to see.”

“Honestly Ron, you can't blame her really, Hermione takes pride in her knowledge so what Professor Trelawney said must've hurt, not to mention it was rude.” Ron opened his mouth to replied, but was cut off by Harry.

“Hang on,” he said, causing the three of us to look at him, only to see that he was looking down. Looking down I saw him pick up the crystal ball that Hermione had knocked off the table.

“We better take this back.”

“I'm not going back,” Ron said, causing Harry to look at Sambiance and I only to receive to head shakes. He sighed.

“Fine. See you later.”

“See you/bye,” Came from Ron and myself as the three of us continued on our way. Easter was far from stress-free for any of us. We ended up getting twice as much homework than we normally would, not to mention I've had to help not only Sambiance but Xzavier and Draco, who had stayed due to the Quidditch match that was right after the break ends. Unfortunately, things didn't end there the tension between the Slytherins and Gryffindors were so bad that there were a few fights, as well as many of the Slytherins trying to trip Harry up, which made it so Harry was being followed by many of the Gryffindor. Unfortunately for the Slytherins, when the day of the match arrived it was Gryffindor who took the cup, much to Wood's pleasure. Exam week passed and unfortunately, brought Buckbeak's execution, which even with the appeal that Ron and Hermione had put together, did nothing to stop it. The four of us walked into the clock tower courtyard, only to see the executioner there, sharpening his ax. I know Hermione and I shared the same horrified and disgusted look as we walked by him.

“I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak. It's just too horrible,” Hermione said, just before we reached the archway on the other side of the bridge.

“It just got worse,” Ron added, as a familiar voice reached my ears.

“What did I say? Father said I can keep the Hippogriff's head. I think I'll donate it to the Gryffindor's common room.”

 _‘That bloody git is at it again,’_ I thought as I saw Draco, crouched down next one of the stones, with binoculars, most likely looking at Buckbeak, with Crabbe and Goyle standing behind him. Hermione was the first to move, causing the three of us to follow, struggling to keep up a bit.

“Look who's here,” Crabbe said when he saw us.

“Ah, come to see the show?” Draco said standing, a smug smile on his face. Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket as she made her way to him.

“You! You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!” she said, voice rising with every word. Draco ended up backing up into the rock that had previously been crouched next to, with Hermione's wand set just under his chin. He looked absolutely terrified as Crabbe and Goyle looked at a total loss.

“Hermione, no!” Ron called, “He's not worth it.” Hermione didn't look like she was going to lower he wand, though the be honest I was more focused on the fact that Draco was whimpering.

 _‘That's one for the history books, The Great Draco Malfoy, whimpering in fear. Wait, is that something else I can hold over his head later?’_ Eventually, Hermione lowered her wand and started to turn as if she was going to walk away, which made the three Slytherins to laugh. The laughing abruptly stopped when Hermione spun back around and punched him just like Sambiance and I had last year, causing Draco to stumble back into the rock before he slid to the ground, holding his nose.

 _‘Now, that's something I know I can hold over his head,’_ I thought with a small smile. With the help of Crabbe and Goyle, he got up before they ran the way we came.

“Not a word to anyone, understood?” was the last thing we heard from Draco before they were out of our hearing.

“That felt good,” Hermione said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

“No good. Brilliant,” Ron said, causing her to fully smile.

“Well done,” I told her before we made our way down the hill, passing a very sad looking Buckbeak in the process. An hour went by, though most of it Hagrid was looking out at Buckbeak.

“Look at him. Loves the smell of the trees when the wind blows through them,” Hagrid said as Harry and I walked over to him.

“Why don't we just set him free?” Harry asked.

“They'd know it was me, and then Dumbledore would get into trouble. He's coming down, y'know, Dumbledore. Says he wants to be with me when they...when it happens,” Hagrid replied trailing off a bit. “Great man, Dumbledore. A great man.”

 _‘Tell us something we don't know, Hagrid,’_ I thought as he tossed a piece of meat to the creature that was sitting on a wooden chair, in a pumpkin, by the looks of it.

“We'll stay with you too,” Hermione said, standing from her seat. Hagrid's head snapped over to her.

“You'll do no such thing! Think I want you seeing something like that? No. you just drink your tea and be off. oh. Before you do, Ron,” he said, before going over to the counter and pulling something out of a tin.

“Scabbers!” Ron said when Hagrid turned around. “You're alive!” he added, taking said rat from the half-giant.

“So all that fighting was for nothing?” I whispered to Harry as I crossed my arms.

“Apparently,” he replied with a small smile.

“Keep a closer eye on your pet, Ron,” Hagrid advised.

“I think that means you owe someone an apology,” Hermione said, clearly upset, which caused me to roll my eyes.

“Right. Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know,” Ron said, clearly knowing what she meant.”

“I meant me!/ Ron!” Hermione and I said. Before anyone could say anything else the pot on the table broke, surprising all of us.

“Blimey. What was that?” Hagrid asked just before Harry yelped and I felt something hit my hand. Harry held the back of his head as I looked down to see a dark green stone on the floor. I looked at Hermione to see that she was holding a matching stone.

“Hagrid,” Harry said as he motioned him over to the window.

“Oh, crikey,” Hagrid said, causing me to look over Harry's shoulder to see Dumbledore, Fudge, and the executioner, walking down the hill. “It's late. It's nearly dark. You shouldn't be here. Someone sees you outside the castle at this time of night, you'll be in trouble. Big trouble. Particularly you, Harry,” he added, grabbing a blanket, covering the creature in the pumpkin as a knock came from the door. “I'll be with you in a moment!” I motioned for Hermione and Ron to go towards the back door as I grabbed Harry's sleeve, pulling him with me. Harry stopped, in turn causing me to and making it so I turned to said person.

“Hagrid. It'll be fine. It'll be okay,” Harry told him, causing him to nod before motioning us to go. We slipped out the back door just as they were coming in and hid behind a stack of pumpkins. I wasn't really listening to what Fudge was saying since I was just hoping they didn't look out the window when we decided to run.

Snap.

Hermione and I spun around and looked at the shadow covered trees, which caused the boys to look at us.

“What?” Harry asked.

“I thought I just saw...never mind,” she answered, as I continued to look at the darkness.

“Let's go,” Ron said, causing me to pull my attention away from the forest.

 _‘I swear I saw something standing there,’_ I thought as we ran up the hill.

 


	8. Chapter Seven

We were at the top of the hill when we saw the executioner kill Buckbeak. Our little group hug that we had broke due to Ron, yelping.

“Ouch! He bit me,” he said before he started looking for the rat he dropped. “Scabbers,” he added before he started running after the bloody thing.

“Here we go,” I said before following after him, Harry and Hermione right behind me. We followed until we got to the one tree we really didn't want to be anywhere near.

“You do realize what tree this is?” Hermione asked us.

“That's not good,” Harry said.

“Ron, run!” I called, causing the said person to look up at us. He seemed shocked for a second before he started pointing to something behind us.

“Harry, Hermione, Thia, run!” he called, causing the three of us to turn, only to see a huge, black dog, baring its teeth at us. “It's the Grim.”

 _‘Oh you've got to be kidding me,’_ I thought before the dog charged us, knocking Harry, Hermione, and myself over as he ran and grabbed Ron's leg. Scrambling to our feet, we ran after Ron's who was getting dragged towards the Walloping Willow, unfortunately not getting to him in time before he was pulled into a tunnel that was at the base of said tree. Before the three of us could follow we were sent flying backward.

“Ouch,” I groaned as the three of us got back to our feet. “Oh, this is gonna suck,” I added, watching the Walloping Willow wave its limbs around wildly.

“Come on!” With that the three of us ran forward, jumping off to the side when the bloody tree decided to try and squish us. I ended up dodging the branches easily, getting a few cuts on my face before literally diving into the tunnel. Standing, I dusted myself off as I looked around, jumping when Harry came flying in, Hermione following not even a few seconds after.

“You two alright?”

“Yeah. You?” Harry answered as Hermione nodded.

“I'll live.”

“Where do you suppose this goes?” Hermione asked as she helped Harry up.

“I have a hunch,” Harry said, brushing himself off. “I just hope I'm wrong.” Going through the tunnel we found ourselves in the Shrieking Shack. The place was gray and covered in dust, the only color was of the blood that was most likely Ron's that was leading up the stairs. The stairs creaked and groaned as we walked up them, before coming upon the room that Ron was in.

“Ron. You're okay.” Hermione said as the three us ran into the room. I automatically felt like we were being watched.

“The dog. Where is it?”

“Harry, it's a trap,” Ron said, quickly pointing behind us. “He's the dog. He's an Animagus.” Sure enough when we turned around there stood, Sirius Black by a now closed door. He was a mess, with his shoulder-length, matted, black hair, pale skin, and hollow, dark eyes.

 _‘Oh boy,’_ I thought as Hermione stepped in front of Harry, grabbing onto his sleeve.

“If you want to kill Harry, you have to kill us too!” she said.

“No. only one will die tonight,” Sirius said, his eyes flickering over to Ron, which caused me to look at said person.

 _‘He looked at Ron, but...was it really Ron he was looking at?’_ I thought, looking at Scabbers, who was thrashing around in Ron's front pocket.

“Then it'll be you!” Harry said, causing me to look back only to see him lung at Sirius. Harry wrestled him to the ground, hands around his throat before he pulled his wand and pointed it at Sirius. Sirius laughed before he spoke.

“Are you going to kill me, Harry?” I jumped to the sound of the door getting slammed open by none other than Lupin.

“Expelliarmus!” Lupin said, disarming Harry before he motioned for him to get back over to us, which he did, causing Hermione to grab his arm. “Well, well, Sirius. Looking rather ragged, aren't we? Finally, the flesh reflects the madness within.”

“Well, you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?” Sirius replied. Lupin lowered his wand, a small smile on his face before he helps Sirius from the floor. Sirius embraced him, muttering something I couldn't hear, which was a bit of a shock to us all. Hermione stepped forward a little, a look of pure betrayal on her face.

“No! I trusted you!” she screamed, catching Lupin's attention. “And all this time, you've been his friend. He's a werewolf! That's why he's been missing classes.”

_‘Seems like I wasn't the only one who thought that, though knowing Hermione she did more work to figure it out.’_

“How long have you known?” he asked her.

“Since Professor Snape set the essay.”

“He'll be delighted,” he replied. “He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms mean...Did you check the lunar charts and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?

“Both.”

 _‘I was right with her putting more effort into it than I was.’_ Lupin forced a laugh.

“Well, well, well, Hermione. You really are the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met,” he said, as I looked over at Sirius, who was starting to get a little antsy.

“I'm not,” she replied. “If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!” I sighed, catching everyone's attention.

“I believe the staff knew exactly what he was,” I told her, causing her as well as Harry and Ron to give me a shocked look.

“Another clever one,” Lupin said, making me look at him. “You've known as well, haven't you?” I nodded.

“The boggart tipped me off and the essay confirmed it,” I told him, causing him to nod. “But Professor, how'd you know where we were?” Lupin explained that he saw us going to Hagrid's with the Marauder's Map and when we left we had one other person with us, which Ron blatantly denied. He said that he saw Sirius drag two of us to the Walloping Willow, which again Ron denied, saying only one. Lupin went to say something only to be cut off by Sirius, was clearly was losing the last of his patience.

“Enough talk, Remus! Come on, let's kill him!” Sirius yelled, causing me to jump a bit as Hermione stepped back in front of Harry.

“Wait!”

“I did my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!” The volume of Sirius's voice, caused me to move closer to Harry and Hermione.

“Very well. Kill him,” Lupin said, snapping my attention back to him to see he handing his wand to Sirius. “But wait one more minute. Harry has the right to know why.” Sirius sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “Tell them, but make it quick Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for...” he added, eyes never leaving the rat in question.

 _‘The only other being that was with us when we left Hagrid's was Scabbers,’_ I thought, looking at said rat, who was still squirming.

“Scabbers was the only one with Ron,” I stated, though still a bit at a loss. Lupin nodded.

“What's my rat got to do with anything,” Ron said, catching said rat, who had gotten out of his pocket and was now scratching and biting at Ron's hand.

“That's not a rat,” Sirius said.

“What d'you mean? Of course, he's a rat–”

“No, he's not,” Lupin interrupted. “He's a wizard.”

“An Animagus,” Sirius added. “By the name of Peter Pettigrew.” Everyone was at a loss for words. I mean, this is someone who's supposed to be dead because of Sirius.

“That's...impossible,” I muttered. Ron, having enough of the craziness, attempted to get up only for Lupin to stop him as Sirius pointed Lupin's wand at Scabbers.

“You're going to hear me out, Ron,” Lupin said, quietly. “Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen.”

“HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!” Ron snapped, trying to force the ever squirming rat back into his front pocket. Noticing that Ron was starting to have trouble holding Scabbers, due to the damage that was inflicted on it, thanks to said rat, I grabbed him from Ron. My reward, claws, and teeth are sunken into my left hand, causing me to hiss in pain.

 _‘They better make this quick,’_ I thought as I tightened my grip on and flicking the back of its head, causing him to stop moving, though his claws and teeth were still embedded into my hand.

“That can't be true,” Hermione added.

“Why can't it be true?” Lupin asked as if we were in class.

“Because...because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework–the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on Witches and Wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things...and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list–”

“Hermione, I highly doubt that the Ministry knows of every witch and wizard that is an Animagus,” I said, effectively cutting her off. Hermione glared at me before Lupin laughed, causing the two of us to look back to him.

“Right again, Hermione,” he said before he looked at me. “You are right as well, Cynthia. The Ministry never knew that there used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts.” With a push from Sirius, Lupin explained what the Shrieking Shack was used for, which was for when he transformed, the Whomping Willow, was used so no one would follow him when he was smuggled out of the castle. He also told us that Sirius, Harry's father, James, Peter Pettigrew and himself created the Marauder's Map since they were always exploring, going by the respective names, Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail, and Moony. He also told us the respective animals that each turned into. We knew that Sirius was a dog, James, a stag, and Pettigrew, a rat. There was a creak that got our attention since it sounded as if it was right outside the closed door, though we brushed it off as the house shifting. We also found out why Snape seemed to have a problem with Lupin.

Snape ended up finding out what Lupin was in a way that nearly got himself killed, thanks to Sirius, who told him how to get past the Whomping Willow. Sirius also explained he was the one who was supposed to be James and Lily's Secret-Keeper, which is a way to hide a secret by the means of the Fidelius Charm, embedding the secret in the very soul of the Secret-Keeper, but because he thought that he was found out he had suggested that Peter Pettigrew became it instead.

“Expelliarmus!”

 


	9. Chapter Eight

We all jumped when Snape came smashing into the room and disarming Sirius.

_‘That explains the creak.’_

“Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you,” Snape said, actually looking quite pleased.

“Severus...” Lupin said, walking forward, stopping when Snape pointed his wand at him.

“I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle and now, here's the proof,” Snape told Lupin as he and Sirius walked a bit away from us, seeming to do so deliberately.

“Brilliant, Snape,” Sirius said as he started making his way towards him. “Once again, you've put your keen interpenetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. Now, if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to,” he added, though he abruptly stopped when Snape put his wand to his throat, causing Lupin to put his hands up as if to say 'easy there'.

“Give me a reason. I beg you!” Snape said, darkly.

“Severus, don't be a fool,” Lupin said.

“He can't help it. It's habit by now,” Sirius stated, causing Lupin and himself to tell each other to shut up before Lupin gave up.

“Well, listen to you two, quarreling like an old married couple,” Snape commented.

“Why do you run along and play with your chemistry set!” Sirius snapped. Snape pressed the tip of his wand harder to Sirius's throat, the tension in the air became palpable.

“I could do it, you know. But why deny the Dementors? They're so longing to see you,” Snape said, added more pressure to his wand, causing Sirius to slowly start moving back. “Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh, yes. A Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like to endure. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best.”

 _‘That's a whole new level of intimidation from Snape,’_ I thought before Scabbers started biting and clawing at my hand again. When I hissed in pain, it was accompanied by Harry casting a spell. My head snapped up in time to see Snape get sent flying into a wall, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. It was clear to see that he was knocked out.

“Harry! What did you just do?” Ron asked him, clearly as stunned as I was.

“You attacked a teacher!” Hermione stated shock and disbelief on her face.

“Tell me about Peter Pettigrew,” Harry demanded, completely ignoring Ron and Hermione.

“He was at school with us. We thought he was our friend,” Lupin replied.

“No. Pettigrew's dead. You killed him!” Harry said, pointing his wand at Sirius, causing Lupin to move so he was standing in front of him before he spoke.

“No, he didn't. I thought so too until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map!”

“The map was lying, then.”

“The map never lies!” Sirius stated. “Pettigrew's alive! And he's right there!” he added, pointing at me or more specifically that rat that's injuring my hand and squeaking up a storm.

“Scabbers has been in my family for...”

“Twelve years?” Sirius finished for Ron. “Curiously long life for a common garden rat! He's missing a toe, isn't he?” he added, pointing at Scabbers again.

“So what?”

“All they could find of Pettigrew was his...” Harry started with a look of realization on his face.

“Finger!” Sirius once again finished. “The dirty coward cut if off so everyone would think he was dead. And then he transformed into a rat!”

 _‘This can't be coincident,’_ I thought, looking down at the thrashing rat. _‘The pieces fit.’_ I looked up at Harry, who was looking at the rat in my hand. Just by the look on his face, I could tell he was making the connections too.

“Show me,” Harry commanded. Sirius looked at him for a moment before he made his way over to me. Sirius hesitated when he got to me, seeming worried. Holding my hand out to him, he grabbed the rat by the scruff of his neck.

 _‘My poor hand,’_ I thought as it stung. It's clawed and chewed up just as much as Ron's. Lupin grabbed his and Snape's wand from the floor, handing the latter to Sirius. The moment Sirius set the rat one the piano he took off, causing the two wizards to basically rapid fire a spell at him. Just as I thought that the rat was going to escape he was hit and in an instant the small, dirty rat changed, getting him stuck in the wall since he was halfway out of a hole in the wall. The two pulled him from the wall, pushing him towards the piano.

“Well, hello, Peter,” Lupin said, gaining said person's attention. “Long time, no see.” Pettigrew was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry, Hermione, or myself. He had unkempt, thin, colorless hair with a bald spot on the top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who had lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby and some of the rat features lingered around his pointed nose and his very, small, watery eyes. He even had long nails, which were somewhat covered in dry and fresh blood. His eyes darted around the room before they landed on Lupin, clearly showing that he had heard him.

“Remus? Sirius. My old friends!” Pettigrew said, acting as if he was going to hug them before he darted for the door. Sirius and Lupin caught him and pushing him back towards the piano, pointing their wands at him once again. Realizing that wasn't going to work, Pettigrew looked around the room before his little eyes landed on Harry.

“Harry! Look at you. You look so much like your father, like James. We were the best of friends,” he said, moving closer to the said person before Sirius intervened.

“How dare you speak to Harry!” he hissed, causing Pettigrew to growl as he ran to the other side of the piano with Sirius and Lupin following. “How dare you talk about James in front of him!” he added as the two caught him in a pincer move.

“You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, didn't you?” Lupin demanded. I noticed Pettigrew flinch to Voldemort's name, which caused me to tilt my head a bit. Last year I had noticed that when Harry or Dumbledore had said Voldemort, Lucius's face became emotionless, but his eyes held, what looked like fear.

“I didn't mean to!” Pettigrew squeaked to Lupin. “The Dark Lord. You have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself, Sirius! What would you have done? What would you have done?”

“I would've died! I would've died! Rather than betray my friends!” Sirius shouted as Pettigrew went under the piano, causing Harry and myself to move so we were blocking the exit. Pettigrew ran from under the table, grasping Harry by his shoulders.

“Harry. James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad...your dad would spare me!” he said, causing me to push him back, just as Lupin and Sirius started forward to grab him. “He would've shown me mercy!” he yelled, just as the two did pull him way fully.

“You should've realized that if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Together!” Sirius started.

“No!” I jumped and looked at Harry as Lupin sighed.

“Harry, this man–”

“I know what he is,” Harry said, stepping forward so he was standing in between Lupin and Sirius. “But we'll take him to the castle.”

“Bless you, boy. Bless you!” Pettigrew said, falling to his knees, reaching for Harry.

“Get off!” Harry demanded, telling me that Pettigrew had touched him, which he was clearly not happy about. “I said, we'd take you to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you,” he added, making Pettigrew quiver in fear. Once Ron's leg was wrapped in a splint, Pettigrew was tied up and gagged, and Snape was being carried by invisible strings, thanks to Lupin we began making our way back through the tunnel that led us here. Sirius and Harry were carrying Ron, in the front, Lupin and myself with Pettigrew behind them, and lastly, Hermione along with the unconscious Snape, following.

“Sorry about the bite,” Sirius said to Ron. “I reckon that twinges a bit.” Ron looked at him in disbelief.

“A bit? A bit? You almost tore my leg off!”

“I was going for the rat. Normally, I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, more than once, James suggested that I make the change permanent. The tail I could live with. But the fleas, they're murder,” Sirius replied, causing not only myself but Harry as well to smile. “I'm surprised with you though,” he added, looking over his shoulder and Ron arm at me.

“What for?”

“You were very calm, even when your friends weren't, especially with the damage that was being done to you,” he said, causing me to smile a little. “You clearly have your father's personality.” I was surprised.

“You knew him?”

“Yes,” he answered sounding slightly sad. “As well as your mother. Extremely clever she was, always seemed to know something that we didn't. Both of them seemed to enjoy watching things play out, which got them into a bit of trouble of their own,” he added, chuckling a bit, causing me to do so as well.

“Seems that apple doesn't fall far from the tree then.”

“Indeed.”

 


	10. Chapter Nine

When we finally came out of the tunnel we saw that it was night.

 _‘Were we really in there for so long?’_ I thought as Ron and Snape were set down on the ground before Sirius walked off to gaze at the castle. Hermione and I told Harry to go talk to him while we stayed with Ron. Now that we had a few minutes without something going on I was actually starting to feel some pain from my hand and ribs. I looked over to where Harry and Sirius were standing and couldn't help but smile a bit when I saw the smiles that they had on their faces.

“Harry!” Hermione called, causing us all to snap our attention to her. She pointed to the sky just as the clouds uncovered a full moon. Lupin seemed to fall into a trance, his body became rigid and only one thought crossed my mind.

_‘Shit.’_

“Remus, my old friend. Have you taken your potion tonight?” Sirius asked, rushing over to the said person, who was groaning in pain. “You know the man you truly are, Remus! This heart is where you truly live! This heart here!” he added as Hermione and Harry picked Ron, getting ready to run if we had to. Lupin growled and snarled throughout his transformation. his head was lengthening, as did his body. His shoulders hunched, fingernails growing to claws, and ears became pointed. Among the chaos, Pettigrew escaped. The best way I could describe the way he looked when he finished, which sent Sirius flying, was a lanky, gray, human looking, almost hairless since the hair looked so thin, wolf. Lupin had curled himself into a ball while he stood

“Come on,” Harry whispered.

“Wait. Wait,” Hermione retorted, her eyes still on Lupin.

“What?” I asked her, clearly thinking she was crazy at the moment.

“Hermione!” Ron said as she took a few steps forward, causing me to grab her wrist.

 _‘She really doesn't need to get any closer to him,’_ I thought as Ron mumbled bad idea, which I honestly agreed with his. Isn't she supposed to be the cautious one?

“Professor?” she asked, causing the whimpering Werewolf to look at her. “Professor Lupin?” Lupin blinked as if he just realized something before he let a load howl, causing all of us to jump and for me to pull Hermione back.

“Nice doggy. Nice doggy,” Ron muttered as Lupin started stalking towards us. Before he could get to close to us, Snape–who must've regained consciousness when we weren't paying attention–becoming our human shield. Lupin clearly didn't like that since he swiped at him, knocking, not only him but the rest of us to the ground, also making it so Hermione and I screamed. He roared and started for us again only to be intercepted, yet again, though this time by Sirius, who had transformed. All of us scrambled up, Snape putting himself in front of us again while Sirius paced a bit in front of him.

Snarling filled the air as the Animagus and Werewolf ripped, tore, and snapped at each other. Sirius whimpered when Lupin threw him before he started advancing on us again, making us back up with each step the Werewolf took. Sirius ended up nipping at his arm before running off, making the Werewolf follow.

“Sirius!” was all Harry said before he took off, Snape barely missing him, though he did catch Hermione in time when she went to follow.

 _‘He's going to get himself killed,’_ I thought, looking in the direction that Pettigrew, which was towards the forest. 'Scratch that, We're going to get ourselves killed,' I added before I took off towards the forest, my name getting called as I did. I skidded to a stop when I saw Harry and Lupin up on a hill. I quickly looked around to see if there was a place to hide or a path that I could take, which unfortunately for me there wasn't. Turning my attention to the two on the hill, I saw that Lupin was advancing on Harry.

 _‘Looks like I'm backtracking as soon as I do this. Please let this work.’_ Cupping my hands around my mouth I howled, which caused Lupin to stop and look in my direction. He shook his head before turning his attention back to Harry though he seemed hesitant about it.

“Come on,” I whispered before I howled again. Once again, he looked again then back Harry before he started towards me, howling lowly as he did. My eyes widened before I turned, and took off in the direction that I came.

 _‘Not my smartest plan, but it worked, I think.’_ I stopped to catch my breath and to listen, hoping that Lupin wasn't following me. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but crickets, I sighed, only to have my eyes widen. An almost unnoticeable puff of air came from my mouth. Snapping my head up I saw well over twenty dementors heading in on direction.

 _‘Can we get a break tonight?’_ I questioned as I ran in the direction that they were going, hoping none of them noticed me.

“Expecto Patronum!” I heard echo through the tree.

 _‘Hang in there Harry,’_ I thought as I picked up the pace. When I broke through the trees, I was surprised to see that the lake was entirely iced over. My eyes quickly scanned over the bank, only to see two bodies lying there. Running over, I saw that it was Harry and Sirius, thankfully they were still alive, just unconscious.

 _‘Where'd they go?’_ I thought looking around for the dementors. I know Harry can repel them, but there were way too many of them for just him to take care of him. Snape eventually found us and brought us to the hospital wing, while Fudge had a few men bring the unconscious Sirius to some unknown location. I apparently had more injuries than my hand and the few scratches. When the Whomping Willow had knocked us back it apparently bruised my ribs,...lucky me. After Harry had awakened and us basically being called liars and told we were crazy by Fudge and Snape, did Dumbledore make an appearance.

Wanting to speak with us alone, he sent Fudge, an unhappy Snape, and a very irritated Madam Pomfrey, which I can't blame her since she wants her patients to get better, out of the room, causing Harry, Hermione, and Ron to dive into an explanation. The three stopped when Dumbledore raised his hand.

“It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me because there is very little time,” he said quietly. “There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word – and the word of four thirteen your old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potter's Secret-Keeper.” Harry mentioned Lupin, which was shot down since the said person was somewhere in the forest and it would be too late by the time that he was human again. Each option Harry brought up was shot down by Dumbledore with an undeniable truth.

“Sirius has not acted like an innocent man, the attack on the Fat Lady, entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife–” my eyes widened a bit since I hadn't heard about that, “without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence.” Sirius's sentence being, a dementor sucking out his soul, bit much I think.

“But you believe us,” Harry asked, his face showing that he was desperately wanting him to say yes.

“Yes, I do,” Dumbledore replied. “But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic...”

“But there must be something we can do,” I said, speaking for the first time since he came into the hospital wing. He nodded.

“What we need is more time,” he said, looking directly at Hermione. Hermione opened her mouth to say something though instantly closed it as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

“Now, pay attention,” Dumbledore said, his voice becoming quieter than it ready was. “Sirius is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower. You know the laws, Miss. Granger. You must not be seen. And you would do well, I feel, to return before this last chime. If not, the consequences are too ghastly to discuss. If you succeed tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared. Three turns should do it, I think.” Harry and I looked at each other, both of us clearly having no clue what was going on before we looked back at Dumbledore's retreating form.

“Oh, and by the way. When in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck.” And with that, he left, closing the doors behind him.

_‘Good luck? With what?’_

“What the bloody hell was that all about?” Ron asked, clearly confused.

“I'm asking the same exact thing, Ron,” I said before Hermione spoke up.

“Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk...” she said before she pulled a gold chained necklace that has a small hourglass on it, out from under her shirt. She looped the chain around Harry's and my neck before she started messing with the hourglass. Harry attempted to help only to get his hand slapped away. In the matter of a few seconds, things started to rewind, though the three of us didn't move.

“What just happened?” I asked as she took the chain from around our necks.

“Where's Ron?” Harry asked as she put the necklace back where it was before.

“7:30. Where were we at 7:30?” she asked.

“Going to Hagrid's.”

“Come on,” Hermione said, grabbing both of our arms. “And we can't be seen,” she added before she started running, causing to two of us to follow, though Harry was calling her name as we ran. Running through the courtyard and across the bridge, we ended up stopping in the archway at the end. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It was us, along with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle.

“That's us. This is not normal,” Harry said before Hermione pulled us both back.

“This is a Time-Turner,” she told us, pulling the hourglass back out. “McGonagall gave it to me first term. This is how I've been getting to my lessons all year.”

_‘Well, that explains that...I guess?’_

“You mean, we've gone back in time?” he asked her

as she put it away again.

“Yes. Dumbledore obviously wanted us to return to this moment,” she answered, before she looked back at our doubles, causing Harry and I to do the same. “Clearly, something happened he wants us to change.” The scene unfolded as it did before with Hermione punching Draco.

“Good punch,” Harry and I said.

“Thanks,” she said before I noticed panic appear on her face, which remembering why caused me to move without even thinking as she spoke again. “Malfoy's coming.” The three of us jumped through the stone window and hid until Draco and his lost puppies ran by.

“Look. Buckbeak's still alive,” Harry said, once we got to were our doubles were once standing.

“Of course. Remember what Dumbledore said?” Hermione started.

“If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared,” I said, causing her to nod. Once we saw ourselves...that is really weird to say...go into Hagrid's hut we made our way down and hid behind the pile of pumpkins. We stayed there until we noticed Fudge, Dumbledore, and executioner coming down the hill.

“Here they come. I'd better hurry,” Harry said before he went to move only to be stopped by both Hermione and myself, grabbing his arms.

“Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we steal him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free.” Hermione told him as I turned my attention back to Hagrid's hut only to see him holding Scabbers or Pettigrew.

“That's Pettigrew.”

“Harry, you can't.”

“Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents. You don't expect me to just sit here,” he retorted, causing me to look back at him, trying to get out of Hermione grasp.

“Harry, put aside the bloody revenge. Pettigrew is not the reason why we came back in time,” I hissed. Harry looked at me like I was crazy, but now was not the time for something so childish. We moved down the pile of pumpkins so that we couldn't be seen by the three newcomers.

“She's right Harry,” Hermione spoke, as I looked back at the hut. “You're in Hagrid's hut now. If you just go bursting in, you'll think you've gone mad. Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time. We can't be seen.”

“Guys, we aren't leaving.” Hermione came over and looked.

“Why aren't we leaving?” she asked, causing me to shrug before I felt my finger hit something. Looking down I saw that it was the same green stone that had hit Harry in the back of the head and most likely broke the pot that was on Hagrid's table.

 _‘Worth a shot,’_ I thought before I picked it up and threw it at the pot that was on the table, quickly hiding just as a smash was heard,

“Are you mad?” Harry asked me.

“Possibly,” was all I said before throwing another one, hitting Harry in the back of the head, causing double Harry and the Harry next to Hermione to hiss in pain.

“That hurt,” he said as I felt something hit my hand though there was nothing there to hit it.

“Sorry,” I said before I saw the back door of the hut open. “Come on,” I added, motioning them to follow me, which they did. Each of us hid behind a tree as our doubles came running out of the hut. We peered around the trees, Hermione having to move a branch so that she could actually see.

“Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?” Hermione question looking at her double, which caused me to look at her like she was crazy. A twig snapped, causing the three of us to hide behind our respective tree.

 _‘I guess I was right about seeing something earlier,’_ I thought as our doubles ran up the hill, allowing us to go back to our place being the pumpkins.

“Okay, go, Harry. Go!” Hermione said once it was clear. Harry did what we had done in class though he was having a bit of trouble with the crows that were either attacking his feet or hands. We all held our breath when the front door of the hut started to open, though it closed right after.

 _‘Thank you Dumbledore,’_ I thought as, Harry tried to get Buckbeak to stand, unfortunately only causing him to squawk as if he was telling Harry to leave him be. Looking around I spotted a rack with stuff ferrets on it.

“Go over there,” I told Hermione, motioning to Harry before I went and grabbed some ferrets. “Come on. Come on, Buckbeak. Come and get the nice dead ferret,” I said, when I got over to the three, holding one of said thing out to him. Buckbeak bolted up, causing me to jump a little before I threw the ferret into the air for him, which he quickly caught.

“Come on. It's here. Come on,” I baited as we moved back, causing Buckbeak to follow, without a second thought. Of course, that was when Dumbledore and the others started to come out of the hut, causing the three of us to freeze, though Buckbeak kept moving forward, eyeing the ferret. Noticing that Dumbledore was showing Fudge something I tossed him the ferret and took a few steps back, baiting Buckbeak until we were running in the forest.

“That was a little to close,” I said when we finally came to a stop. Harry and Hermione nodded as I tossed Buckbeak another ferret before I dropped the others to the ground.

“Now what?” Harry asked.

“We save Sirius,” Hermione answered as she started running, causing the two of us to follow.

“How?”

“No idea.” We kept running until we saw the Whomping Willow in the distance along with someone walking up to it.

“Look. It's Lupin,” Hermione said as Lupin hit something that caused the tree to still.

“And Snape's coming,” I said, noticing the Head of Slytherin House.

“And now we wait,” Harry said, once Snape disappeared.

“And now we wait,” Hermione repeated before we all sat down.

_‘This is a really long night.’_

 


	11. Chapter Ten

A few somewhat quiet hours passed before a group of bats came flying by us, causing us to flinch since a few hit us with their wings.

“At least someone's enjoying himself,” Hermione, looking back at Buckbeak. Buckbeak was jumping around, catching any of the bats that he could, ultimately getting him a snack.

“Yeah,” Harry said before we looked back at the Whomping Willow. “Hermione?”

“Yeah?”

“Before, down by the lake, when I was with Sirius...I did see someone. That someone made the dementors go away.” Harry had mentioned seeing his dad the moment he woke up though at the time Hermione and I were a little more preoccupied with what was going to happen to Sirius.

“With a Patronus. I heard Snape telling Dumbledore. According to him...only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it.”

“It was my dad. It was my dad, who conjured the Patronus” Harry said, causing me to look at him. He was smiling at the thought, which to be honest I would've been smiling about it too. Then Hermione spoke.

“But Harry, your dad's–”

“Dead. I know,” he cut her off, making it so I looked back at the Whomping Willow. “I'm just telling you what I saw.” The silence that followed was a bit tense, though it quickly broke when I saw shadows emerge from the Whomping Willow.

“Here we come,” I said standing, the other two doing the same. Two of the shadow walked away from the rest, which was Sirius before another follow, being Harry.

“You see Sirius talking to me there,” Harry asked, getting two hums in confirmation. “He's asking me to come and live with him.”

“That's great,” Hermione answered, sounding just as happy as Harry was most likely feeling at the moment.

“When we free him, I'll never have to go back to the Dursleys. It'll just be me and him. We could live in the country, someplace you can see the sky. I think he'll like that after all those years in Azkaban,” Harry said smiling. Hermione and I smiled at the way he was talking. It was good to hear something like this out of him, especially with everything that's happened. But then, Lupin's change happened along with the events after.

“Let's go,” Harry said before he started moving, making the two of us follow. Moving through the bushes, keeping up with Harry's double until we saw the same scene that I had seen a few hours ago. As Lupin advanced on Harry's double, I saw Hermione cup her hands around her mouth, but before she could I pulled her hands away.

“Don't do that.”

“But if I don't–” she was cut off by another howl. “How did you know that was going to happen?”

“I know because that was me who did it,” I answered before another howl echoed through the air.

“Smart thinking,” she told me.

“Thanks.” Just them Lupin started running towards us.

“Great. Now he's coming for us,” Harry stated.

“Yeah. Didn't think I'd be standing here when that happened. Run!”They didn't need to be told twice. We ran through the trees as fast as we could, while avoiding tripping over the roots. Hearing the howls get louder, we ended up hiding behind one of the trees.

 _‘This is a bad idea,’_ I thought, hearing the footsteps and howls getting closer to where we were hiding. _‘Yes, I got away from him before, but really have no clue how the hell I did.’_ Slowly we started moving to the other side of the tree when we heard him get closer on one side. The howls eventually faded away, making it sounds as if Lupin had left but a growl told me otherwise.

 _‘You have got to be kidding me,’_ I thought, as we turned to face the Werewolf. Lupin quickly advanced on us though, Buckbeak – who came out of nowhere – intervened. He ended up catching Lupin in the face before said person ran off.

“That was so scary,” Hermione said, burying her face into Harry's chest.

“Poor Professor Lupin's having a really tough night,” Harry said, causing me to nod.

“I highly doubt that it's the worst night he's had though,” I said before I looked at Buckbeak. “Thanks for that.” Buckbeak bowed his head, causing me to smile. The wind an icy wind picked up, making it so we all looked up to see all the dementors, heading in the direction of the lake.

“Sirius. Come on!” And with that, the four of us booked after the dementors. Once we reached the lake I stayed back with Buckbeak, while Harry and Hermione ran a bit closer to the lake itself. I was right about Harry not being able to repel all of the dementors, but I was also wrong. The Harry that was next to Sirius wasn't able to, but what he saw was actually himself sending the dementors away. Harry couldn't believe that he had just done that, but he was extremely happy that he did.

“Okay, so off to the highest tower?” I asked once we saw Snape.

“Yeah.” I couldn't help but smile since I know we were going to have to take Buckbeak to even get to the tower. Buckbeak laid down so that the three of us could climb on his back with me holding on the chain like reins with Hermione behind me and Harry behind her.

“You were right, Hermione,” Harry said as we got closer to the castle. “It wasn't my dad I saw earlier. It was me! I saw myself conjuring the Patronus before. I know I could do it this time because...well, I had already done it. Does that make sense?”

“No,” she replied, her voice shaking a bit.

 _‘Oh, she's going to hate me for this,'_ I thought, a smirk appearing on my face. _'but so might Harry.’_

“But I don't like flying...!” she added, a scream ripping through her's and Harry's lips as I made Buckbeak dive to our destination, whopping in the process. Landing on the correct tower Hermione blew open the cell door, getting Sirius. Hermione was the one that was controlling Buckbeak this times since she didn't want anymore scares, but I wasn't the only one enjoying the rise this time since Sirius joined me in the whooping and hollering. Hermione landed in the clock tower courtyard.

“I'll be forever grateful for this,” Sirius said after he helped Hermione down. “to all of you,” he added, causing the three of us to smile.

“I want to go with you,” Harry told him. Sirius smiled sadly.

“One day, perhaps. For some time, my life will be too unpredictable. And besides...” he said, placing his hand on Harry's shoulders. “you're meant to be here.”

“But you're innocent.” The sound of a chain rattling caused Hermione and I to look over at Buckbeak, who was shaking out his feathers. I grabbed Hermione's sleeve, pulling her along with me over to the said creature, giving Sirius and Harry a moment as well.

“Take care of him and yourself, okay,” I told Buckbeak, petting his neck as Hermione took a hold of the chain. Buckbeak responded with a surprisingly quiet squawk. Eventually, Sirius came back over to us, Harry following, and mounted Buckbeak.

“You two really are the cleverest witches of your age,” he told us, gaining a smile from us both as we backed up so we were standing next to Harry. With that Sirius took off just as the clock started to chime.

“We have to go,” Hermione said before she started running, causing the two of us to quickly follow. When we got back to the hospital wing, Dumbledore was just coming out of it.

“Well?” he asked us.

“He's free. We did it,” Harry answered.

“Did what?” Dumbledore asked as he walked towards the stairs. “Good night,” he added with a slight smile before he disappeared.

 _‘Oh he is too good,’_ I thought, smiling a bit before we walked into the hospital wing, seeing us just as we used the Time-Turner. Ron's eyes practically popped out of his head when our double just faded away.

“How did you get there?” he said, pointing to the door as we walked into the room. “I was talking to you there. And now you're there,” he added, pointing to where we once stood to where we were now.

“What's he talking about, Harry?” Hermione asked a smile appearing on her face.

“I don't know. Do you know?” he asked me with the same smile that Hermione had. I shook my head before I spoke.

“Honestly, Ron. How can somebody be in two places at once.” Ron looked even more confused when the three of us laughed a bit. The rest of the year went by and I ended up telling Sambiance only part of the story of that night, much to her dismay. Lupin also ended up resigning from being our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, since someone one slipped with him being a Werewolf, but that's beside the point.

“You really should tell me the rest of the story,” Sambiance said, her arm looped through mine, as we walked to the great hall.

“And I will. When the appropriate time arises,” I replied, a small smirk on my face, causing her to groan.

“I will get it.” I smiled.

“I don't doubt that.” When we walked into the great hall, I saw that there were a lot of people crowding around a part of the Gryffindor table.

“What's going on here?” I asked as we got to the small crowd.

“Harry got something,” Ron, who was still using a crutch to walk at the moment, answered as he motioned to the table. Just by the shape of the wrapped item was, I could tell that it was a broom.

 _‘Has anybody gone to get Harry,’_ I thought, taking a seat next to Hermione, Sambiance sitting next to me as Fred and George tried, and succeeded to get Ron to open it. I could hardly believe what was in front of me, but the silvery-blue feather that Hermione was holding caused me to smile a bit.

“Harry!” Neville called, causing everyone's head snapped over to see said person walking over, looking a little confused. “Wherever did you get it?”

“Can I have a go, Harry? After you, of course,” Seamus asked, only making Harry's face to contort into more confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Quiet. Let the man through,” Ron told Seamus before he looked at Harry. “I didn't mean to open it, Harry. It was badly wrapped. They made me do it,” he added, pointing at Fred and George.

“Did not,” the accused said.

“Don't lie,” I told the two, causing those around us to laugh.

“It's a Firebolt,” Fred informed.

“It's the fastest broom in the world,” George added.

“For me?” Harry asked. “But who sent it?”

“No one knows,” Ron said.

“This came with it,” Hermione said, holding the feather up, causing the smile that Harry had to grow a bit more. Within seconds, Harry along with the rest of the crowd started running out the hall, leaving just me. I looked at the feather and smiled.

 _‘You really just made his day Sirius,’_ I thought before following after the others, stopping next to Draco's little group when I got to the courtyard, not really wanting to be in the group that was asking questions. Harry mounted the Firebolt and shot off the ground, startling many who were standing by him, also making it so he had started screaming. The group that had gathered around Harry cheered as others laughed. Sambiance's came bounding over to me, a smile on her face.

“You know who sent him that, don't you,” she asked, causing me to smile. “I think that it's an appropriate time to tell me the rest of that story.” I laughed.

“Fine.”

 


	12. Epilogue

‘ _Another year, gone,’_ I thought as I looked out the train window. We had left Hogwarts a few hours ago. I was thinking about what happened this year, apparently being so lost in thought that I never noticed Harry grab a tiny, gray owl that was carrying a letter twice it's size.

“It's from Sirius!” Harry exclaimed, causing not only myself but Sambiance, who was reading, to look up.

“What?” Ron and Hermione asked with small smiles on their faces.

“Well, go on. Read it out loud,” I told him, my expression mirroring Ron and Hermione.

 

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. Buckbeak and I are hiding. I won't tell you where in case this owl falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about his reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job. I believe the dementors are still searching for me, but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts so that security on the castle will be lifted._

_I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I gave you that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had hoped to get a glimpse of you before starting my journey north, but I think that sight of me alarmed you. I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable. If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me. I'll write again._

_Sirius_

 

Harry looked into the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. A smile appearing on his face before he read it out loud.

 

_I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade on the weekends._

 

“That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!” Harry explained happily before he looked back at the letter. “Hang on, there's a P.S....”

 

_I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat._

 

Saying, Ron was surprised would be an understatement.

“Keep him?” he asked, uncertainly. Much to all of our surprised, Ron turned to Crookshanks and held out the tiny owl out for him to sniff.

“What do you reckon?” Ron asked the cat. “Definitely an owl?” Crookshanks purred. “That's good enough for me. He's mine,” he added, causing me to chuckle.

 

“ _Nothing is always as it seems. I always understood what that meant, especially growing up with a magical family. Though I didn't realize just how much that really applied to. At the time I wasn't as worried as I should've been with Pettigrew having escaped and the realization that there could be more Death Eater walking free. That was...an unfortunate mistake.”_

 


End file.
